Rough Day
by badly-knitted
Summary: Ryo and Dee find themselves a bit battered and bruised by the end of their shift. Written for Amnesty at fan flashworks, using Challenge 55: Bruise. Set after the manga.


**Title:** Rough Day

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Dee, Ryo, JJ, OCs.

 **Rating:** PG-13

 **Setting:** After the manga.

 **Summary:** Ryo and Dee find themselves a bit battered and bruised by the end of their shift.

 **Word Count:** 1397

 **Written For:** Challenge 207: Amnesty at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 55: Bruise.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Ryo winced in sympathy as Dee was slammed bodily into the wall; that was surely gonna bruise. Although Ryo often found JJ's enthusiastic way of greeting the object of his desire amusing, there was no doubt it could also be quite painful for Dee. Still, JJ was just going off shift while Dee was arriving for work, so if he survived the encounter intact, more or less, he wouldn't have to face any more such pounces until shift change tomorrow. When the two men worked the same shift, Dee would get practically jumped on every time he entered the squad room, unless JJ was out following leads, canvassing for witness, or doing any of the other routine tasks required during an investigation.

When Dee finally succeeded in peeling JJ off him and sending the little guy home, he staggered across the room and collapsed into the chair at his desk with a groan.

"You okay?" Ryo asked.

"JJ is gonna be the death of me, I swear!"

Ryo smirked at his partner. "That's a bit overly melodramatic even for you, isn't it?"

"What does it take to get a bit of sympathy around here?" Dee asked the ceiling, stretching his long legs out as he tipped his head back, and almost sliding off his chair as it started to roll away. That led to an undignified scramble to regain his seat. "Not funny!" he grumbled when he saw the amusement on Ryo's face.

"It is from where I'm sitting. Anyway, there's no time for lazing around; we got a tip-off on the Russell case."

"Think it's legit?"

"We won't know until we check it out. I was just waiting for you to arrive." Ryo reached for his coat and pulled it on.

Dee hadn't even had time to take his off yet, so just hauled his ass out of his chair again and followed his partner towards the door. "Can we at least grab a coffee on the way?" he asked plaintively.

"Okay. I wouldn't say no to something better than what's on the burner," Ryo admitted. "Smells like motor oil. D'you want to drive or shall I?"

"Gimme the keys," Dee decided. "You can get the coffee."

"Gee, thanks," Ryo threw the words back over his shoulder as they made their way down the stairs. "I thought it was your turn to buy."

"You actually keep track?" Dee raised an eyebrow.

"Not always." Ryo blushed slightly, embarrassed. They were lovers now as well as partners; did it really matter who bought the coffee when they shared so much else? Probably not.

"I'll buy if you want," Dee said, coming alongside him as they crossed to the desk to pick up the keys to the unmarked car they'd be using.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind paying." Signing for the keys, Ryo passed them to Dee and followed his partner out to the car.

The tip-off they'd received proved accurate for once, leading them to where their main suspect in the Russell murder was hiding out. He wasn't the murderer, or so he said, but he claimed to know who was, and said he'd gone into hiding when he heard Arnie Russell had been killed, figuring because of what he knew, he'd be the next to meet an untimely end.

"Why didn't you just go to the police?" Ryo asked.

"I've got a record, don't I?" Kevin Shaw replied. "Plus I had a minor beef with Arnie and I don't have an alibi for the night he was killed. Figured you'd think I was the one did him in."

"You still might be for all we know," Dee replied. "We'll check this guy out, but don't leave town. Might want to talk to you again."

"Where would I go?" Shaw asked. "I'm broke, can't collect my wages or nothin' 'cause that bastard Bennett knows where I work."

"My heart bleeds for you," Dee told him, not sounding the least bit sincere, and turned away to head back to the car. "Let's go bring this Clay Bennett in for questioning."

That proved easier said than done. Bennett answered the door at their knock, but whomever he'd been expecting, it wasn't the police. He took one look at them, slammed the door in their faces so hard it rebounded off Dee's forehead, and made for the fire escape.

"Ow! Fuck!" Dee rubbed his head as he pushed his way through the door with Ryo right behind him. "Like I needed any more bruises after this morning. Startin' to feel like a punchin' bag!"

"Starting to look like one too," Ryo teased.

Clambering through the open window as fast as they could manage, the two detectives took off down the metal stairway after their suspect.

It was a long chase, and not an easy one either, involving a lot of climbing over walls and dodging through trash-strewn alleys. When they finally cornered Bennett in a short alley where the end wall was too high for him to climb over, he spun around, ignoring their guns, grabbing Ryo by the arm and shoving him into Dee, resulting in them both going down in a tangle of arms and legs. Ryo didn't even try to disentangle himself, just grabbed Bennett's pants leg as the man tried to scramble past them and yanked hard. Bennett went down like a ton of bricks and Ryo held on tight to his ankle as the fugitive kicked at him repeatedly with his free foot until Dee managed to climb over them both and get the cuffs on him.

"You okay?" Dee asked as Ryo climbed slowly and painfully to his feet, rubbing his shoulder, which had taken the brunt of Bennett's attempts to break free.

"Fine, just a bit bruised," Ryo reassured his partner. "Let's get this guy back to the precinct before he tries anything else."

"Yeah, and get the crime scene guys out to his apartment. Judgin' by what we've seen, I doubt this bozo was smart enough to ditch the murder weapon."

Back at the precinct, their suspect lawyered up, but it hardly mattered; Dee was right, and the murder weapon, a hunting knife, was found, taped to the underneath of his bed. It had Bennett's prints all over it, and traces of the victim's blood on the blade, even though Bennett had attempted to wipe it clean. Charging him with the murder of Arnie Russell was a pleasure.

The rest of their shift dragged past, filling in paperwork, and it was a relief when midnight finally arrived and it was time to clock off. The pair went straight back to Dee's place, since Bikky stayed over at Carol's when Ryo had to work a late shift. Peeling out of their work clothes, they looked at the bruises blossoming on their abused bodies.

"Rough day," Dee said quietly, running fingertips over the purple marks that spread across Ryo's left shoulder.

"At least it's just my shoulder and not my head." Ryo eyed the lump on Dee's forehead.

"Good thing I've got a thick skull. What's the damage to my back?" Dee said, trying to peer over his shoulder. He shivered slightly as Ryo's gentle touch ghosted over his shoulder blade.

"This looks sore. You might want to avoid being slammed into a wall for a week or so."

"Tell that to JJ."

"I doubt he'd listen; he gets a bit carried away," Ryo said wryly.

"If only someone would come along and carry _him_ away. Wish he'd stop pouncin' on me like that." Dee turned, an odd expression on his face. "All those times I pounced on you… I never realised, but I was actin' just like JJ does."

Ryo shook his head. "Not the same thing, Dee. For one thing, you never left bruises. Sometimes I think JJ doesn't know his own strength, he's like a clumsy puppy, wanting to show affection and not realising the damage he's doing in the process. You… were always careful, and there were usually soft surfaces involved, a bed or a sofa. Apart from a few sneaky love bites, I don't think you ever left a mark."

"That's good to know," Dee said with a smile. He slapped Ryo on the ass. "C'mon, a hot shower will wash away some of the aches, and after…" He winked. "Maybe I'll let you leave your mark on me."

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The End


End file.
